The Legend of the Alone Ranger
by Me
Summary: Part 1,Taffy develops momlike bond with Angelica, thanks to help from friends in a Full House crossover. Part 2, Taffy fears she'll have to resort to the ultimate to stop Angelica from being so mean
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Rugrats started in the early '90s. If "All Grown Up" starts 10 years later, that's 2001-2, so the last couple seasons of Rugrats with Taffy are like an AU. Add to that Charlotte actually disciplining Angelica, taking her Cynthia boat away, in the last season and it's apparent – writers can go a new direction with Angelica learning to be nice with the babies as babies in 2002 or so, the Point of Departure being Taffy coming.

Why a "Full House" crossover? Taffy isn't shown disciplining; she'd need someone to encourage her and help her. Since on "Full House" the dad was so inconsistent the oldest daughter had to be disciplining the youngest, Michelle, behind the scenes for Michelle to be anywhere near as good as she was (and she's even better in the Book Universe, where D.J. is the mother figure, not Uncle Jesse), they'd know how to explain to Taffy what Angelica needs. Even if Charlotte and Drew started to be consistent near age 4. But, you can develop your own ideas of how Taffy disciplines and builds that bond.Someone else will have to do stuff w/them actually forming that bond, I' too busy to do many others at all.

BTW, this is Book Universe; Michelle is more mature and babysits and helps Stephanie do it more much earlier. If you've never seen "Full House," catch my later stories – which fit more with the series since I'd watched more by then – and RKORadio's Sam Series, where Steph helps someone even more than Taffy would need to with Angelica.

The Legend of the Alone Ranger

Tommy Pickles, who just turned two, sat gloomily in a small chair away from the action.

"All right, Dear, you may get up now," the teenager said warmly. Her name was Taffy, and her sweet, loving voice sounded as if it belonged on stage – and she was in a band. But, more importantly to Tommy just then, it was a voice that said he was loved, no matter what he did wrong. "And remember, soap stays out of the toilet." He'd tried to flush it down there.

Tommy nodded; it was one of the first times he'd ever been sent to timeout. Taffy hugged him, and let him go.

"Hey, Chuckie," Tommy said, his smile slowly returning. Chuckie Finster was Tommy's best friend. Tommy and baby Dylan's parents, the Pickles, babysat Chuckie, his sister Kimi, and a number of other kids. Taffy had been hired to help because Tommy and Dylan's dad worked as an inventor, and their mother, Didi, was back in school.

Chuckie was thinking about where Tommy had been. "I wonder how he does it."

"Who?"

"The Alone Ranger." Chucki's dad and Tommy's grandpa had each told stories about the Lone Ranger. "It's scary being alone. Then again, it's scary to be with people, too, sometimes," Chuckie was scared of lots of things, though.

Tommy didn't think he was alone. "I thought he had an Indian who helped him. Or, was it a horse?" Tommy recalled stories of his grandpa's father distracting his kids if they were fighting by saying "Look, there goes Silver running down the street," and the children would run to the window to look. "Either way, it'll take someone like him to help Angelica." Angelica was Tommy and Dylan's cousin, an only child who at just past four was very spoiled. She could be quite mean, and seemed to enjoy being bad. Still, he held out hope. "Maybe Taffy will help her be nice someday," Tommy said.

Taffy hadn't had much chance to handle the kids when they were naughty. She hadn't babysat a lot till recently, and like most kids they tended to be wilder around people they knew at first. Angelica had been getting bolder around Taffy, though. As Tommy said this, he saw Dylan taking his first baby steps toward some cookies at the center of a table. Angelica tripped him as she zipped past him, and grabbed them herself.

"Angelica, that wasn't nice, was it?" Taffy said.

Angelica scowled as Taffy took the cookies from her and gave one to Dylan. Out of Taffy's earshot, she mumbled, "You dumb babies always get what you want. You know I'm the one who's supposed to always get what she wants."

Chuckie rolled his eyes toward Tommy. "Don't pick your hopes up, Tommy," he said.

Meanwhile, some visitors were driving down the street. "I'm really glad you girls could come down this way with me while I interview Dr. Carmichael," Danny Tanner said. He was the host of a morning talk show, "Wake Up, San Francisco." "It's not often we get the chance to do things together, with you in college, Steph, and you so busy with high school and everything, Michelle. And, of course, D.J.'s already off and married. Time goes by so fast, it's so easy to miss things…"

"You mean like the Carmichaels' house?" Michelle asked as Danny drove right past it while rambling.

"Yes, just like..oh." He suddenly turned around in a driveway, having not paid close attention to the directions like his girls had. "I did miss it, didn't I? Listen, are you girls sure you'll be okay here? I'm going to be following Dr. Carmichael around the hospital with a camera crew for a while. I could drop you off at a mall or something."

"Don't worry, Dad. I took the call, remember? There will be plenty of little kids to help watch over at the Pickles'," Stephanie said.

Michelle agreed. "I might want to run a home daycare myself someday. I've had lots of practice with our cousins, and then helping Steph baby-sit."

"That's right; it'll be great to see how one is run and what things you'll need to know. It's a lot different than just babysitting one or two kids," Danny advised.

They got out of the car. As Danny spoke with Susie Carmichael's mother, Stephanie and Michelle introduced themselves. They instantly got into the fun dress-up play of four-year-old Susie. "She's so cute," Michelle said to Stephanie.

"Yep. She reminds me a lot of you when you were that age."

"Please, Steph, Dad talks about when we were little all the time as it is," Michelle responded. "Hey, you're putting a mask on her, don't I get something, too?" she joked playfully.

"You can be an Indian princess," Susie said as she handed Michelle a headband and feathers that she put on her head.

As if on cue, Danny walked into the living room. "Aw, look at my darling Lone Ranger and Tonto – isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen, Dr. Carmichael?"

As Danny snapped a picture of Stephanie and Michelle, the girls wanted to complain that first, Susie's parents would probably say their daughter had done even cuter things, and second, they were much too old to be considered cute. However, they'd learned by now to simply put up with Danny's little quirks. D.J. had taught them well.

As Dr. Carmichael, Stephanie, and Michelle walked with Susie over to the Pickle home, they were about to see just how bad it could have been without D.J.'s work. Susie's mom explained about some of the children whom the Pickles watched.

Chuckie stood at the door till he saw Stephanie. He ran away screaming at the mask.

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat, you dumb baby," Angelica scolded loudly.

As Susie and her mother hugged and the doctor left, Michelle told Angelica simply, "That's not very nice."

"Well, that's what he is." Angelica didn't feel much concern about this new girl – Taffy was the boss, though Angelica was starting to feel like she was the boss even around her.

Taffy asked the Tanner girls to watch the babies for a moment while she took a call.

"Bad news?" Stephanie asked once Taffy hung up, then walked sullenly over to them.

"Yeah, my band wants me to write a song." Taffy sighed. "I know I promised, but still…"

"Yeah, and you're going to need to work extra hard with her," Michelle said lowly, pointing at Angelica. "She tried to make that boy," she said pointing at Chuckie, "eat a red crayon so he wouldn't get sick. She told him everyone had red cells and he needed more. He would have, too, if we hadn't stopped her."

"I can't believe you'd do that, Angelica," Taffy scolded, though in the back of her mind, she could. She was beginning to get frustrated with Angelica's increasingly naughty attitude, but also with the pressure her band was putting on her. The band had been concerned about her babysitting at all for a while.

Stephanie said she understood the problem. "Our Uncle Jesse felt the same way for a while at first. He and our dad's best friend moved in to help when our mom died, back when our sister D.J. was ten, I was five, and Michelle was a baby. D.J. was the only consistent one when it came to disciplining Michelle; thankfully she was very proactive. Dad didn't even start punishing Michelle till she was almost four, and the others didn't at all. He was maddeningly inconsistent at times later, too." Still, Michelle would have been far worse if never disciplined consistently by someone from the start.

They looked over to see that Angelica had swiped back the crayon Michelle had taken from her, and drawn a red streak down one of Michelle's pant legs.

"All right, young lady, you need a timeout," Taffy said loudly.

"I am not a young lady," Angelica screamed as Taffy carried her to the timeout chair.

"She's right about that," Michelle muttered.

Trying to ignore Angelica's loud protests, Taffy explained. "I know what you mean; her mother pays too much attention to business, and her dad's just too soft. You should have seen the battle of wills that started a few days after she disciplined her just once, taking one of her Cynthia toys away from her, after she was being mean to the other babies."

"Well, sure, if she hardly ever disciplines," Michelle said.

Stephanie lovingly placed a hand on Taffy's shoulders. "You don't have just an ordinary babysitting job when it comes to Angelica." They looked at Angelica, now defiantly standing instead of sitting. "You may have to form a much closer relationship; bond with her, show her you're punishing out of love."

"Right now, you're close enough in age, she thinks of you as a friend. Though that could make it easier in the long run."

Taffy exhaled sharply as she walked over and plopped Angelica into the timeout chair. Meanwhile, Stephanie and Michelle walked to the kitchen, where the other Rugrats were.

"She needs to get control of Angelica," Michelle spouted.

"I know." Stephanie turned abruptly. "See what you can find out from the others about this Cynthia thing, maybe we'll find a clue there. I'm going to try and give Taffy some pointers from some of the tougher cases I've dealt with."

Once she left, Michelle bent down to the others' level. "Hey, can we talk?" she asked as the others enjoyed some cookies.

"I think we got everything," Tommy said.

Chuckie agreed. "We gots mouths, lungs, vocal corns…yeah, we can talk."

"Do you need me to translate?" Susie, four like Angelica, asked politely, noticing Michelle's quizzical look. Chuckie was somewhat intelligible, but not quite at the age where he'd have an explosion of coherent vocabulary. The others were younger.

"Sure, thanks," Michelle said appreciatively.

"How come she gots a mask on?" Chuckie asked, pointing in toward Stephanie.

"I know that probably scares you, but what's on the inside is what's important. And, she's trying to help Taffy deal with Angelica."

Kimi explained that, "Angelica's probably mad because we got into some cookies and she can't get any."

"She gets mad about lots of stuff," Chuckie added.

"Is she ever nice?"

The babies considered Michelle's question. "She doesn't like to be, but…she can be," Tommy said. "Sometimes it's not because she wants to be."

"This may sound weird, but do her parents talk like her?" The babies shook their heads – Drew and Charlotte were always very nice. "Tell me some stuff she's done."

While the others relayed some tales from Angelica's past, Stephanie was telling Taffy, "I can't help but notice you're starting to yell back."

"I know, but I can't help it; not only is she driving me crazy, I feel like I have to do it all now, so our band can practice tonight."

"This is more important."

Angelica stood up again. "I don't have to listen to this…hey!" Taffy plopped her in the chair hard enough it tingled for a second. "That hurt," she complained.

"You need to stay in the corner!"

"I don't want to! I want you to be Happy Taffy, not Mean Taffy!"

Stephanie figured Angelica was trying to make Taffy lose control, too. "Whoa, calm down, both of you," she whispered after a bit more of their shouting.

"Huh?" The whispering got their attention.

Stephanie kept whispering to defuse the yelling; they were forced to be quiet so they could hear her. Then, she told Angelica to sit in the chair, and held her down for a second. "Rules are rules. It was not nice to try to make Chuckie eat that crayon, and it was not nice to color on someone. You need a timeout," Stephanie said quietly.

Angelica finally relented. Folding her arms, she said, "I'll sit on the outside, but I'm standing up on the inside!"

Taffy and Stephanie talked a couple more minutes. Once she'd sat there for a few minutes, Taffy gave her a hug and let Angelica get up. Angelica stomped away.

"Taffy, it sounds to me like this is more than just normal limit testing." How? "Well, look, she was arguing that you'd gone from Happy Taffy to Mean Taffy."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, now that she's decided it's safe to test your limits, she wants to see if you'll enforce them. But, if nobody else has been doing that, you not only need to show her the limits, you need to convince her you love her more than anything; and get her to want to behave because of that, not just because you're bigger than her, like when I held her down."

Taffy shook her head. "But… I know Didi's punished her."

After discussing it for a moment, Stephanie saw Michelle walking up to them. "Let's see what she found."

"I talked to her after she came out there. As far as I can tell, she's got a good relationship with her mom. But, on the other hand, she doesn't think much even of Didi's rules, let alone her mom's. Her mom praised her for coloring all over the walls once."

Stephanie sighed. "She probably figures love means letting her do anything. It sounds like she obeyed Didi some, but probably snuck around doing things behind her back. And, now that Didi's back in school anyway…"

Taffy sank into a chair, looking quite deflated.

"Not what you hoped for, huh?" Stephanie said with a smile.

"It was so great at first; the babies still love me. Even Angelica and I had lots of fun together." Taffy muttered, "Is that what they mean by a honeymoon phase?"

"That's right," Stephanie agreed. "It's easy to love a sleeping baby, or one playing nicely. But, what about when she's eight and crashes a car into your kitchen; like I did once," Stephanie finished sheepishly.

"That…would take a special kind of love," Taffy said pensively.

"My family had that kind of love, even though I didn't think anyone could at the time. I think Angelica wants to see how much you will love her, even at her worst."

"Okay…so how does that translate into how to punish her?"

Stephanie admitted that, "We've always had very tender hearts. Angelica's might be a lot tougher. You have to go with what you think will be effective. Don't just go by an expert, like you mention everyone you know following this one guy. Every child is different. And, don't think of it as just figuring out how to write the rules so she follows them." Stephanie sighed as she saw Michelle returning again, trying to hold a squirming Angelica's hand; finally, she picked her up and carried her. Stephanie quickly finished by telling Taffy, "Think of it as showing your love toward her. What is it, Michelle?"

'Don't listen to her!" Angelica demanded.

"Angelica didn't know I was watching her, so she tried to blame Chuckie for breaking some eggs when she tried to throw them up in the air and catch them."

"It's not fair. There's too many sitters here!" she complained as Taffy calmly sat her in the corner, trying not to react once more.

As Taffy stood behind the chair watching her, Michelle and Stephanie went out and cleaned up the mess. "This could take a while," Stephanie acknowledged.

They spent a few hours of playing with the babies – during which time Michelle spoke to Didi, who came home for a short time. They didn't want her to overuse timeouts or lost privileges, so Taffy didn't use those every time. But, they – especially Taffy - watched and lovingly corrected Angelica every time Angelica insulted the babies, or tripped Dylan, or something else. Stephanie and Michelle figured they were making progress, though they could tell Angelica was getting very frustrated with Taffy.

Angelica had tired of things and was supposedly watching a video with Susie, while the younger children took naps; the four-year-olds sometimes needed them, sometimes not.

"You don't think I should be watching her?" Taffy said.

"She's old enough to play by herself," Stephanie pointed out. "This time was important because you're trying to build that bond. But, now we need to test her."

"I know; I've actually had time to write some stuff, too. What you said about that special kind of love is what inspired me." Taffy showed her what she had; they liked it. "This is the last of the worst stage, right? I mean, it won't be a walk in the park, but I should be able to get back with my band this evening, right?"

"Well…" Stephanie saw Susie running up to them, with Angelica right behind her saying, "I didn't do it!" "We'll see."

"We were eating cookies," Susie said, pulling Taffy into the living room, and Angelica said she was gonna play with her Cynthia doll, and look!" The couch they'd been sitting on had crayon marks all over the back.

Taffy glared at Angelica. "I could see Susie sitting quietly, but when you were out of view I trusted you to behave. You just had to pull something, huh?" she said as she carried Angelica into the timeout place.

This time, Angelica sat sullenly, but as soon as Taffy's back was turned she zoomed outside and started playing, with Taffy in hot pursuit.

"Now what?" Stephanie told Michelle to simply wait and see how Taffy handled it.

Angelica had a very hot temper. She threw a block at Taffy, striking her in the arm at close range, then turned the chair over when Taffy tried to make her sit in it. She also kicked Taffy. "I hate you," she screamed, frustrated and angry that she was suddenly so unable to get her own way with Taffy around.

Taffy looked at Stephanie and Michelle, but they simply motioned for her to handle it. Taffy tried to figure out how to respond, and finally said, "But, I love you."

She thought to herself – was it really love? As she looked at the tantruming girl below her, Taffy tried to imagine the kind of love Stephanie had described that had been unconditional despite having a car crashed through the kitchen. It was hard to fathom.

And yet, as she sat the chair upright and evaded flying fists and feet to calmly sit Angelica in it, she thought about how few limits Angelica really had, and how she needed someone to model niceness who would enforce things.

Once she let Angelica up – she'd calmed down since nobody was paying attention to the tantrum – Taffy calmly handed her a rag. "Now, we're going to clean this off together."

"No, you're cleaning it!' Angelica threw the rag down.

"You made the mess, you have to help clean it," Taffy insisted. Angelica threw the rag at her this time. "Angelica, I mean it I have tried to model being nice to you and help you to copy, but you have got to learn to obey the rules!"

"You can't make me!"

Taffy took her hand and tried to rub some of the coloring off with her, but Angelica surprised her with her strength. She squirmed out of Taffy's grip, accidentally hitting her again. The harder Taffy tried, the louder Angelica's tantrum got, till she was screaming, kicking, and flailing once more. "I don't like your rules!' Angelica screamed.

Stephanie and Michelle had gone to check on the others; they were awake by this time. "Kids back home in San Francisco are probably awake by this time," Michelle joked.

They came down with the others to see Taffy sighing as Angelica flailed and kicked on the ground by where she was trying to make her help clean the many marks on the couch.

Taffy's heart was suddenly overcome with feeling as she thought about that little girl. Angelica was totally out of control, and it hurt Taffy to see it. Taffy didn't know why she was releasing so much anger and frustration, but that sense of love continued to grow as she pondered it. Stephanie was right; this was much more important. Her band was just writing songs and having fun. But, this little girl below her was in real need of rules mixed with mercy and grace, just like Stephanie had mentioned.

Taffy slowly scooped Angelica up, wrapping her legs around Angelica's legs, and her arms around Angelica's arms, trying to dodge them while whispering "I love you" to her. She got her in such a tight squeeze that the four-year-old could no longer flail or kick. All that energy was forced to come out the front, in the form of tears.

Once Angelica stopped trying to use her muscles, Taffy turned her around and gently cuddled her, letting Angelica cry in her lap. Once she felt Angelica was calm enough to understand and listen, she said sweetly, "I love you very much, Angelica. And, I promise, I will always love you, no matter what you do. Part of that love is teaching you right from wrong, and how to control yourself. But, I promise that no matter what you do, I will always love you."

Angelica sniffled. "You mean forever and ever?" She did. "Even after I said I hate you and kicked you and stuff?" She wasn't really sure why she had done that – except that she wanted her way, and figured this would be a good way to get it, if she tried hard enough; just like when she wanted something of the babies', especially Chuckie.

"Even after that. There is nothing you can do that will make me stop loving you," Taffy said, realizing that she really meant it sincerely. She had pondered the idea of a kid crashing a car through the kitchen, and decided that if that family could love even then, she should be able to love no matter what, if she really wanted to help Angelica. And, the notion of such unconditional love was so sweet, so wonderful, she knew she wanted to help her like that. "I have to teach you to behave. I might have to get very tough to make you obey the rules. But, I will, because I want you to grow up to be a wonderful person. One who will always do what's right and be kind to others. Even to the babies."

"Even to the babies?" Angelica whined, much less complaining in her voice than there might have been. That warm, tender embrace, and the knowledge that she would always be loved, was somehow very reassuring to the four-year-old, as much as she fought it. She only now realized that Tommy, Chuckie, Kimi, and Dylan had gathered around her, at the others' suggestion trying to comfort her as she wept and sniffled. She felt like she was a baby, too, with how much she'd cried. And yet, she was loved even then. Maybe it wasn't that bad to show some tenderness, and be a little nice to them.

Taffy agreed. "Even to the babies. We're going to work together, and you're going to learn to be as nice to them as I am. Because I love you," Taffy said again, feeling even more sure of it this time.

Angelica sniffled. She knew she wasn't always going to like it – she figured Taffy would make her clean that couch with her, for instance. But, whereas before she only thought of herself, there was something about that idea of unconditional love that sparked a tiny bit of compassion in her heart. Compassion that she'd hidden, not wanting to show any amount of vulnerability, but that she knew was important. It was what was being shown to her. She couldn't hide her meanness, bossiness, and disobedience from Taffy the way she could the others, it seemed. She hadn't liked how Taffy was watching and making her be nice. But, she'd met her match, so to speak, and realized that maybe it wasn't so bad.

She found it hard to let go of that attitude, but admitted, "I'll try, I guess." She buried her head in Taffy's chest again, grateful for that tender embrace while she said that, because somehow, she felt the need to have that assurance as she promised that.

The girls grinned broadly as they noticed their dad waiting in the car outside. Stephanie quietly said, "Let's go," to Michelle. They left, with Stephanie handing the mask and fathers to Dr. Carmichael only when they were out of view of the others.

Chuckie was amazed. As Taffy quietly cuddled Angelica and sang to her, he looked out the door, his eyes growing wide as the masked one and the one with the Indian headdresss disappeared. He turned toward Tommy. "Tommy, can you believe it?!'

"What did I tell you, Chuckie? I knew Angelica could start to be nice someday."

"Yeah. I guess anything can happen, with a little help from the Alone Ranger," Chuckie said.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I know some of you may not like the idea of even a child as mean as Angelica getting spanked, and if so that's okay; but I keep it K-rated, and she's comforted quickly. It's really pretty light, even more so than what's implied in, say, "The Andy Griffith Show."

Anyway, for part two, let me explain how I see the timeline of the original Rugrats when they're babies. The episode with Angelica's birthday is her 4th because she got Cynthia for her third. Most of the series takes place when she's 3, and Angelica gets away with a lot, but also faces punishment with timeout and such, at least at times we don't see. Yes, it's October in the airdate, but AGU says she was born in "spring," so that's what we're going with; it makes sense since she's 3/25 at the start, in September.

Now, a child who just turned 3 wouldn't really know what a trial is; "The Trial" aired early in the calendar year one year, so I'm positing that she's a month or so past 4 in "The Trial," where they put her in the high chair till her parents get home. Drew and Charlotte know she's out of control some, so a month or two later, Charlotte's willing to take away some Cynthia stuff when Angelica is mean and bossy. You might think she could have been 3 in "The Trial," and I wouldn't argue, this just seems like a logical progression, since it's more than a normal timeout she gets at the end of "The Trial."

"The Trial" is a month or two after Taffy first appears, as Didi starts going back to school summer semester, allowing Taffy to be there all day. (More logical to move everything forward around half a year from when we had it. Taffy can be busy with something else when Didi takes the Rugrats to school with her. However, if Taffy just turned 14 in early January, then she had a day off when Didi started, spring is possible.)

Either way, "The Trial" is before Taffy's there a lot, and certainly before Taffy starts bonding with Angelica in my "The Legend of the Alone Ranger," which could be spring break, but is more likely summer, when Taffy has had more time to bond with the 4YO Angelic and she she needs someone full time. This part happens later, Christmas break most likely, though it could be argued to be late August and I wouldn't quibble.

Taffy frowned as she spoke with a friend on the phone, after having put her most ornery charge in timeout - again. "I'm so glad we've kept in touch." She looked at the other children playing outside in the yard; it was still reasonably warm, being in California.

Summertime, and the living was easy. Easy, that is, unless you were a fourteen-year-old expected to be nanny to a kid like Angelica, whom she'd bonded with a lot that previous summer. Now, Taffy was close to fifteen, it was a school break, around the first of the year, and since she'd been coming over to help after school, things hadn't gotten any better; they'd gotten worse.

She stepped outside as she continued to listen to advice on something Taffy had called to inquire about – though it was more just things to consider.

"I understand you not wanting to say whether I should ask them for sure; she is my charge." Taffy sighed, knowing she probably just wanted someone to tell her what to do.

Taffy considered the band she used to play in every day. She'd dreamed of stardom, and still considered this only a small detour. But, there was more to it than that.

"My band's gotten over my not being with them this summer. Now, they all envy me. They say, 'Taffy, you're so lucky, you can decide what the minis can watch, what they eat, you make adult decisions, you're like a parent.' Yeah, right. They don't know how hard it really is." She listened a second, and repeated, "You're right, 'Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.'"

A couple of the children Taffy watched had been listening. Phil DeVille turned to his sister, Lil; they were now two. "What crown?"

"I don't know, Phil," Lil said. "I guess it's on Queen Aneeselie's head."

"Why can't it be King Aneeselie?"

"Because Aneeselie is a girl's name," Lil said in a huff, not realizing Taffy's comment did not mean there was a monarch named Aneeselie who wore a crown. In her toddler mind, she heard it that way. And, being a girl, she naturally wanted to think it was a girl's name.

They couldn't be understood by the adults. Nor could two-year-old Tommy Pickles, his one-year-old brother, Dylan, or two-year-old Kimi Finster. Her stepbrother, Chuckie, was now three, and was a little understandable, but not every word made sense. Angelica Pickles was four and a half, and most of her words were understandable, as was her best friend Susie, who was the same age. Angelica and those younger than her could all understand each other.

Angelica was back in timeout. Taffy told her friend – who'd helped when she had to start being forceful and setting limits for the mischievous Angelica – to hold. Meanwhile, Didi – Tommy and Dylan's mother – opened the door for Drew and Charlotte, Angelica's parents. Drew and Didi's husband, Stu, were brothers.

Stephanie told her to take care of business – they could talk later. "Thanks. Thanks for listening, anyway." Taffy put her cell phone away after turning it off, and went to see Angelica. "I'm glad you obeyed when I punished you, Angelica."

Angelica folded her arms as Taffy looked at her. "I still don't like it."

"I understand. But, it's my job to teach you right from wrong. Now, your parents are here; we're going to have a long talk, just the four of us, about your behavior, young lady." Taffy smiled warmly and held her arms open. "But, for now, your punishment is over." Taffy hugged her warmly as Angelica leaped into her arms. "It's so nice to be good, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I wish you were always 'Happy Taffy.'"

Taffy agreed. "I wish that, too. But, I can't be when you do something that needs punished."

"Why not?" Angelica challenged. She was far from the emotional girl who would tell Taffy "I hate you" a couple times when she made the little girl obey at first. However, while she accepted Taffy as boss, she was still quite mischievous, still wanted her way a lot, and loved to find ways around that.

If one could call her resentful when Taffy started to punish, now Angelica was simply determined – determined to find any way she could around the rules. She and Taffy had developed a loving bond, but now, that made her willing to test like most children do, in a place where they felt safest. She knew Taffy would always love her.

"Because I am in charge of you," Taffy said as she cuddled her. "I love you, and I want to help you grow into the best girl you can. Come on, let's go see your Mommy and Daddy."

"There's my princess," Drew said warmly as Taffy let her down upon entering the living room, and Angelica ran up to him. "Were you a good girl?" He looked at Taffy's tired, drained face, and said to her, "I take that as a 'no.'"

Taffy confirmed what Drew said, and went over some of Angelica's misdeeds that day. Meanwhile, Tommy and Chuckie snuck under the table. "Are you sure this is the one?" Chuckie asked uneasily, not wanting to be waiting under the wrong table to watch.

Tommy assured him it was. "Angelica's Mommy's getting moneys out of her purse."

"Yeah, but she's not getting under here."

"Relax, Chuckie. I heard her mommy say herself that's where Taffy gets paid."

The payments, of course, were for being Angelica's nanny. Taffy even worked at Didi and Stu's home daycare during the summer, when Didi wasn't attending classes, because she had developed a special bond with Angelica. Now, she still came over on weekends and whenever she could after school. So, she worked more as a paid helper than child labor laws allowed for her age.

Charlotte had something of a bond – Angelica called for her when she got a shot – but it seemed she was always on her cell phone conducting business. Drew coddled Angelica like crazy. He had more time, but also worked, and was just too soft.

The couple had seen how badly Angelica behaved around the start of the year, and bit by bit they did enforce some rules and take away some privileges. For instance, this past spring, Charlotte took away a lovely new accessory to Angelica's Cynthia doll collection. But, Angelica rebelled, so most of the punishment fell to Didi and, now especially, to Taffy. Taffy was related, in a way, through Drew and Stu's dad's wife. Lulu.

Taffy noticed the Pickles were ready to leave. "Guys…can you hold on one second," she said as Charlotte gave her some cash. Trying to avoid the subject, she noticed the little ones under the table. She got down to their level, smiled broadly – as she usually did – and asked kindly, "What are you two doing there?"

"Taffy get da money," Chuckie said. The most intelligible things he said were simple, 6-8 word sentences. His attempt at "under the table" wasn't recognizable.

Taffy couldn't understand the rest of what Chuckie said, so she guessed. "Yes, Angelica's mommy paid me some money. Now I can go and buy stuff at the store. But, you know what? I'd watch you for free; I love you all so much." They hugged. "It's just that now, after a few years, I'll have college paid for," she joked. That's right, Taffy, look on the bright side. Remember to have fun, and enjoy what you do, she told herself. That was her friend's best advice when it came to getting Taffy to really be committed to helping the little ones – especially Angelica. And, she really did have fun; even with Angelica. It's just that her behavior wore Taffy out sometimes.

"She adores you," Drew said as he put Angelica down and Taffy turned toward him. "Every night before bed, we talk about her day, and it's always 'Taffy this,' and 'Taffy that.' She really loves you." Charlotte suddenly got a call and picked up her cell phone, walking into another room to discuss business. "I hate to say it," Drew whispered, "but you may be becoming an emotional mother of sorts."

"She tests me like one," Taffy reminded them. "Today she hid Chuckie's glasses, after being told not to; last year when she did it she couldn't know any better. Now, she's four and a half. She and I have had long talks about how she can't go around hurting the babies or being mean, because they won't want to play with her. And, the last few days she's just blown me off. What you just saw me getting her out of was the second timeout for that. She went and did the exact same thing right after her first one."

Drew looked at his girl, and said, "Princess, have you been telling me the truth about your behavior?"

"Well…." She looked down, knowing Taffy would tell. "Not always."

"I know I've been busy, and my wife's run off without taking the time to talk to you the last few days when she's picked her up," Drew admitted as he picked his girl up. "But, we can talk about it now." Charlotte said she had to go home to get some papers, so the four walked down the street to Angelica's house.

Taffy looked hard at him. "Today she also was caught smuggling cookies into timeout – and also did a couple other things before then, so I took her dessert away for a few days."

"We'll enforce that," Charlotte pledged.

"What else has she done?" Drew wanted to get all the information; he knew he hadn't paid much attention lately, now he needed details. "I know you said something about 'no television' yesterday, but while we enforced that, I really didn't know what."

Taffy told him everything that had happened the last couple weeks. "Didi and I have sensed that she's bossing them around much more. We've tried rewards, stickers, everything."

Drew nodded slowly. "Now, I see the problem. She's not recognizing those limits." He looked at Angelica as they talked some more. "We're going to have to have a long talk about this, Princess," he said in a very calm manner.

"I don't like to admit I'm running out of options…" Taffy sighed as they went into Angelica's house. She loved being "Happy Taffy," and always having fun with the little ones. She was glad she'd been convinced to enforce lots of limits on Angelica. She said Angelica had calmed down a lot, as Charlotte finally hung up. "In the last three, four months she's really gotten good at listening, you're right. Except now, she's so sneaky."

"Dear, if it's more money you want…"

"No!" Taffy held up a hand to silence Charlotte. "No, it's not that. What I have to ask you is one of the toughest things I can imagine." She breathed heavily. "So I guess I better just say it. I would like …if I have to…to be able to spank her if I need to." There, I said it, she said to herself, hating to even think it, yet not knowing if she had a choice.

They sat down on the couch with thuds. "I know her behavior has been worse lately…" Drew stammered.

"Now, you know I always try to be in control of myself. These would be just light fwaps unless that didn't work, I promise."

"We know. You're the one responsible for helping Angelica learn to control her temper. Why, I remember the first day you tried to punish her, she wouldn't stay in timeout, she threw such fits…and the way you just cuddled her and held her still so she would just melt into your arms…" Charlotte trailed off.

"Exactly. I just want permission to talk with her about it, so hopefully I don't have to do it."

"About what?" the four-year-old inquired, not having really paid attention.

"You'll find out," her parents said.

"I just want to tell her that if she keeps hurting others, or we run out of options, I might have to hurt her feelings; it might pinch her bottom for a second or two but I'd try not to make her hurt, unless that didn't work." Inside, Taffy was trying to convince herself it wouldn't be that bad. She'd grown to truly care for Angelica.

They didn't want to say for sure to do it, Taffy considered, thinking of her recent phone conversation, but she decided she probably called knowing the answer.

"It's a hard decision." Drew sensed Taffy's frustration. "I know, we've sort of let you handle everything."

"Daddy, who's going to get hurt?" Angelica wanted to know. It was the second time she'd asked this, but first time she'd been heard.

"Well…that's what we need to discuss," Charlotte said, recalling her own stubborn, bossy streak as a child, which had gone unchecked for the most part, and realizing that Taffy might well have to give Angelica a sore bottom for a short time.

The next day, Taffy was there bright and early when Drew and Charlotte dropped Angelica off at the home daycare. Angelica ran up to Taffy, who picked her up and hugged her warmly, as she always liked to do. "We're going to have lots of fun today, aren't we?"

"Daddy says you're not just Taffy. You gots a title."

"Yes, I'm 'Nanny Taffy' now, huh?" Taffy said. She walked up to Drew and Charlotte. "Thanks again for all the freedom you give me with her."

"Oh, it's no problem, Dear…just a minute." Charlotte's cell phone was ringing already. She hugged and kissed Angelica, then went out onto the sidewalk to discuss business.

Drew took Angelica a moment, and said, "You remember what we talked about last night, right, Princess?" Angelica nodded slowly. They'd talked about how she'd hurt the others, and how her friends wouldn't want to play with her if she was really mean and bossy; just like Taffy had talked with her. It was hard for Angelica to think about – she'd enjoyed being naughty for so long. It was sometimes the best way to get attention, but more often, she just wanted her way and didn't care about others.

Either way, it was a hard habit to break at times. Still, she promised to be good, and after Drew hugged and kissed her, he left

Tommy asked, "What did you talk about?"

Angelica looked somberly at Tommy. Since she could understand her, Taffy figured Angelica was just getting it off her chest about being punished by not having cookies, and about their talk. "I'm a dictate to badness," she said, meaning "addicted."

Chuckie scratched his head. "Isn't there a patch you can wear for that?" he asked, thinking of ones he'd heard about for smokers.

Angelica walked up to him. She knew Chuckie was often afraid of things. "Don't tell anyone, but there's a monster here," she said, hoping to have a little fun by scaring Chuckie. "It's called a spanking. It might bite me on the bottom, so I gotta try to be really, really, really careful."

"It's okay. We know what it's like to be scared," Chuckie assured her. "I feel the same about…" He thought a second. "Pretty much everything."

"What we talked about is only for Angelica," Taffy assured them.

Didi had been told via phone last night what they discussed, and also reassured Chuckie and Tommy. "That's right. We'll try timeout first, and if she continues to disobey our limits, and does so in a really mean way, Taffy's going to be able to spank her, but that's only because Angelica's really been naughty lately. It would never happen to you or Tommy…" Didi rattled off the rest of the kids they babysat. "So, none of you has to worry about getting spanked; it's only because Angelica's parents say it's okay to punish her like that."

They'd discussed, in fact, that Didi could do it – they decided Didi could spank Angelica if need be, but all agreed Angelica had probably bonded more with Taffy now, as it was months since she started making a huge, concerted effort to discipline Angelica, and almost a year since Taffy first came and was introduced to the Rugrats. And, even at first, she and Angelica had hit it off fast.

Chuckie was relieved, but still confused. "How does that monster know how to find the right person?" he asked Tommy.

"It's prob'ly got a GBS like my daddy's car," Tommy guessed.

Chuckie added, "If the monster uses GBS, that must mean Global Badness System."

"Right," Tommy said, "just like the one on his car and on his toaster." Stu was an inventor, and had recently developed a toaster with a GPS system - which had only recently been developed for possible use in cars. Not all his inventions were logical, of course.

Angelica was concerned, and started out the day trying to be careful. However, she'd bullied Lil and Kimi enough the day before, getting them to do what she wanted, so they could be princesses like her, they automatically were trying to climb up to the cookie jar to get cookies. They sent it crashing to the floor as the others talked in the living room, but Kimi daringly came up to Angelica and said, "We have rescued the cookies from the evil Dr. Cookie Jar." She handed them to Angelica.

Didi ran out to clean up the mess as Taffy took away the cookies and put Kimi and Lil in timeout for a couple minutes each.

Taffy went out into the yard after letting them out of timeout with big hugs, as she always did. The others were running around in the grass, which was still covered with dew. She noticed Angelica deep in thought.

"Angelica, come here," she said sweetly. She obeyed. "Angelica, I'm so proud of you for listening as well as you have today." So it had been only a few minutes – Taffy was at a point where she would try anything, and praise any little bit of good behavior. The more she thought about it, the more she really wanted to avoid even hurting Angelica's feelings.

"You want to make me like being good, don't you?"

"That's because I want you to learn." She said "wheeee" as she lifted Angelica up in the air. "What do you want to do today?"

Angelica had been thinking. If Lil and Kimi were still doing things for her like yesterday, maybe she could get away with things anyway, even with what they'd talked about last night. "Taffy?" she asked. "Would you really hurt my bottom?"

"If I thought it was absolutely necessary. That means, if it's the only way to teach you how bad it feels when you hurt others, and when you use them in a mean way."

Okay, Angelica told herself, she would do it. Now, was she mad at her for what the others just did? Angelica asked her.

"No, because you know what? That was totally something they did. I'm very proud of you for not trying to get them in trouble."

Angelica thought for a moment. She was torn – she was happy to make Taffy proud, but at the same time, she saw that she could possibly use the others.

"I don't get TV or cookies or candy today?" Angelica finally asked.

"That's right, because of what you did yesterday. You understand why it was wrong, don't you?" She nodded slowly. They talked for a few more minutes. Taffy helped Angelica to brighten up. She figured that talk would be all that was needed.

The children were outside by the time Phil and Lil came over; ti was unseasonably mild, but in California, it was usually not that cold, anyway. Angelica had started out well, but was starting to get bossy. Not only that, but she'd invented a "new game" called "shark" – whose sole purpose was to scare the others, especially Chuckie, into thinking there was a shark around, and only Angelica could safely go near their favorite play area. She was corrected for this, but when she was out of audible range of the others, she began to do it again. "But, scaring those dumb babies is fun," Angelica whined as Taffy saw what was happening, came outside, and pulled her away from them.

"It's not fun for them, now you come inside and sit in timeout," Taffy insisted.

Angelica folded her arms as she sat in the chair. Once she was allowed up, she returned to the play area to find the others in it. "Hey, that's mine," Angelica scolded. "I was there first!"

"We're not playing with you anymore," Tommy shouted.

Angelica sulked over to the back door and sat, her head in her her hands. "What's wrong?" Taffy asked gently.

"They won't play with me!"

"Perhaps you'd rather play with some of your toys till lunchtime," Taffy said sweetly. "That wasn't nice to scare your friends like that. That's why they won't play with you."

"But, it was fun for a while!"

"You just got a timeout for it," Taffy said. "I hope you don't think that was fun."

When Angelica balked, Didi could tell Angelica was starting to get a little too carried away. "Remember what you all talked about last night?"

Angelica tried to hide it, but she was still thinking about the threat, once Didi said that. Didi was only referring to the talk about how much it hurt her friends when she was mean, but she was thinking about the other. "Oh, yeah, you're right, Aunt Didi." She instantly breathed deeply and walked over to the others. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm really glad you're trying to keep me out of trouble today."

"Of course we are," Dylan said. "We like you."

"We just want you to stop bein' mean," Chuckie added. Seeing the children were being nice again, Didi and Taffy backed off.

Angelica lowered her head once they were out of her hearing range. "I'm glad you're helping me not get spanked. You guys are really sorta okay." She wouldn't bring herself to say they were nice or any other sort of compliment.

Chuckie was willing to take what he could get. "Did you hear that, Tommy," he exclaimed, "she said we're sorta okay. That's the nicest thing she's ever said about us," he finished warmly.

"Don't get used to it, Finster," Angelica scowled.

Despite her scowl, she really was grateful. However, she still had a bad idea or two as Kimi spoke up. "We don't want to see you hurt."

Angelica's main weak spot showed here – she didn't like to show her feelings in front of the "dumb babies." "If you really want to help, you'll steal Chuckie's glasses for me."

"Angelica, you were punished for that yesterday. You know he needs those to see."

"Oh, all right!" She folded her arms. "What about naps; nobody likes naps, right?"

Chuckie scratched his head. "Is this some kind of trick?"

"Oh, no, no trick, Finster. I just…uh…want everyone to throw some big tantrums about taking naps. I mean, look at me, I don''t take naps. Why should you?"

"She's right," Phil and Lil complained. "Why should we?"

"Because we get tired?" Chuckie asked weakly more than explaining; he knew the answer, he just was so timid he didn't feel like suggesting it. What if his friends turned on him because they didn't like naps, either. He didn't want anyone to start yelling at him or calling him a traitor.

Angelica scolded, "Fine, take your nap today if you want." Inside, it was just what she wanted to have happen.

Several of the others raised ruckus once they had had their lunches. Angelica, meanwhile, got too riled up herself.

"Angelica, a cantaloupe is not a soccer ball," Didi scolded her after she ran kicking a soccer ball and causing it to crash into a table, knocking over a lamp. Didi took her by the arm and ordering her to sit in timeout while she and Taffy got the others down for their naps.

Angelica hadn't counted on that diversion, but once she was let out, she said she wanted to go watch a video. Taffy was surprised – "Don't you want to spend some fun time alone with me?"

"No, I'm a little tired," she fibbed. Instead, she snuck upstairs – all the babies were asleep now. So, she took Chuckie's glasses, and planned to hide them in Lil's crib.

She didn't count on one problem – Phil and Lil were wide awake. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get Chuckie back his glasses that you took from him," she complained, thinking quickly. "It's bad enough you threw a tantrum, why did you go and steal his glasses?"

"You're the one who stole them," Phil complained.

"Yeah, and you're gonna try and pin the blame on us!"

"Yeah, well, who's gonna know?" she taunted as she took some cookies that she'd swiped. "You can't talk yet." She ate one and started boasting about her sneaky plan.

"But, that's mean," Lil complained.

"Why do you think I had you get all riled up and throw those tantrums? I found out the perfect way to get you dumb babies in trouble and keep myself out. Finster even took his nap like I hoped, so I could take his glasses…" She heard footsteps – upset footsteps. It was Didi. "I mean, so I could take them and give them back to him, because you dumb babies are mean to him! How dare you steal his glasses!" She quickly handed the glasses to Didi, along with the bag of cookies. "Here, Aunt Didi, these mean babies stole Chuckie's glasses during their tantrum. And these cookies. Put 'em in timeout for a long, long time." She ran downstairs…

…right into the arms of Taffy, who had heard everything on the baby monitor, just as Didi had begun to hear before she started upstairs. Angelica had left out one important detail in her plan – that the baby monitor would be on.

As Angelica tried to feed Taffy the same story, Taffy shook her head. "I heard everything," she said, her voice cracking with disappointment. Angelica said she didn't do it out of force of habit, but Taffy said, "Oh, I heard you, young lady. On the baby monitor!" She patted Angelica's bottom lightly, hoping she'd remember the threat, and that the light pats would be a spanking to Angelica. Otherwise...Taffy knew it was time.

It was then Angelica noticed Taffy was neither smiling like normal, or even extremely angry like sometimes. In fact, Taffy looked upset, but also looked ready to cry herself. She rattled off a list of what Angelica had done wrong in this instance, hoping to catch a hint of remorse – if she showed a lot, then maybe she could avoid…

It was no use. Angelica wondered what Taffy would do, and didn't like being patted like that. To her, those light pats were a spanking, in a sense, and they even tingled a touch after several of them.

However, her attitude of not always wanting to show her feelings if she was scared or sad, together with being too caught up in trying to defend herself, stopped her; at her age, she couldn't always stop her thoughts from coming out. "Well, you shouldn't have been listening!"

As she gazed into Taffy's eyes, the effect was like that of Scrooge looking at the big, silent, and eerie Ghost of Christmas future. Only, Taffy was silent because she was ready to cry herself – and indeed began to weep. The thing that spooked Angelica the most was worrying just what Taffy was going to do. She gulped as Taffy carried her over to a chair, , then sat down and raised her hand, giving firm, yet still mild, spanks – she knew Angelica was small enough she wouldn't have to do much. A loud yelp or two quickly dissolved into large tears, as it not only hurt, but she didn't know how much Taffy would do.

After she was finished, she hugged Angelica tightly as they cried together. Didi came down after it was over, simply observing the remorseful cry as Angelica cried huge tears on Taffy's lap. Didi felt bad for her niece – but also knew someone who cared deeply for her was comforting her. She let them be in private, so it wouldn't be as embarrassing.

"I love you, Angelica," Taffy choked out. She spoke gently as Angelica's tears subsided. "I didn't want to hurt you; but you had to learn to think about how you hurt the others."

Angelica looked up at her with big, watery eyes. It didn't hurt anymore – it had subsided while they cried together. Soon, Angelica wouldn't remember it hurting much at all, but only the long cry they'd had after the spanking. Still, she instinctively rubbed her bottom for a second, as she had done right afterward; indeed, Taffy had rubbed it, for a second and patted it a little at first, to reinforce that light fwaps might be seen as "spanking," and rubbing it could be a warning, yet not have to hurt Angelica's bottom. Though it no longer hurt, Angelica still thought about it, and quickly asked, "Do they really feel this bad when I'm mean to them?"

Taffy hugged her close again. "They did today," she said soothingly. "I couldn't believe how mean and cruel you were." She didn't repeat what she had about Angelica getting others in trouble, and so on – she knew Angelica knew what she'd done wrong. "But, no matter how bad you are, I will always love you. But, I want you to think about what it's like to have your feelings hurt. If I spank really lightly…" She stopped herself, realizing Angelica knew she hadn't listened when she should have, to avoid getting the spanking she had.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely, her voice still sad.

Taffy and Angelica talked about what Angelica had done, and what Taffy did in response, while the others slept. The little girl was thankful they'd done it in private – and asked Taffy not to tell the others she cried. Taffy promised, and Angelica dared to ask, "Did you love me even while you was doin' that?"

"Even then. I will always love you. But, I expect you to be nicer, like I was to you."

"I will." As they embraced, Angelica said, "I loved you then, too." Angelica knew Taffy could have really hurt her. In fact, she was a little worried. "What if I'd taken his glasses and Chuckie couldn't see and fell into the kiddie pool?" She was starting to think about how she could have done even worse; and she didn't want to do anything like that ever. Se shuddered to think of what Taffy might do now; yet, she knew it would be because taffy loved her. And, she also realized Taffy would protesct her the same way. That's what love was about, she was learning.

Taffy could tell Angelica didn't want to think about that. So, she said, "That's why I'm kind of glad it happened this way and wasn't any worse." She was grateful Angelica would never really risk serious harm to someone; they had plenty of talks about how some were quite challenged, and that Taffy would be quite tough on her if she took advantage of someone like that.

At this point, after a good amount of talking and cuddling, Didi announced that some of the babies were awake. Angelica muttered, "I have to tell them I'm sorry, huh?" Without even waiting for Taffy to agree, she went over to the babies as they were coming downstairs. "Guys, I'm really sorry I've been so bad to you. Do you forgive me?"

Tommy had never seen Angelica this remorseful. Was that what that crying was about he thought he heard? He didn't want to ask. As children often do, he simply said, "Well…sure. We forgive you."

"Good. I can't promise I'll always be nice. But, I'll never do the worst stuff ever again."

"Are you all right?" Chuckie asked sincerely.

"Yeah, I wouldn't make my heart tender. So, Taffy had to do it for me."

Angelica soon focused only on the fact Taffy had to do it, and how it hurt her feelings. By the end of the day, she was quite well behaved, and would stay that way for a good while.

She needed "love pats" that only hurt her feelings other times from Taffy or Didi, but it was still very rare; at worst it hurt a little, and she got to where she knew the "warning" Taffy had tried to give was a spanking. Even Drew or Charlotte were willing to do this – they also had a long talk about it when they got home. Still, Drew was timid enough, and Charlotte busy enough, that since they knew Taffy had such a bond with Angelica, they let her - or Didi - actually spank Angelica; they would merely warn her a couple times. At worst, Angelica would be mean and nasty enough she got a few medium slaps instead of just love pats, but her bullying did ease tremendously on the whole. So, she never got near as bad as she had been.

This was especially true since Taffy showed such compassion , it always made her quite sad if she had to hurt even Angelica's feelings, there was such a clsoe bond that had developed. Angelica knew Taffy loved her, and hated having to punish her, especially at her worst. After they wept together, Angelica would go and apologize humbly to whoever she hurt, and behave very well for weeks. And, she and Taffy would have long talks about what Taffy had done and why; Taffy could tell Angelica loved her unconditionally, and hated to disappoint her; and, and she knew Taffy loved her that way, too. Taffy always hugged and comforted her despite how tough she had to be.

By the time she grew up, she'd never remember it hurting when Taffy had done it, though she might admit privately to Chuckie, once they married, that she might have "yelped a little," as he recalled hearing. All she'd remember of even the worst was Taffy had broken her heart so much, they'd had to have a long cry together; which was big since she so rarely ever did cry. And, it made Taffy teary, too, as they hugged after it. That last happened a couple years or so after this first one, the last "love pats" one a little over a year later, Taffy's last in high school.

Angelica knew Taffy cared deeply for her, and that Taffy felt horrible when Angelica hurt even a bit. It taught her to care deeply for others, too; those who would work for her, and those who would be her family and friends when she grew up. That became all that she remembered, Taffy's love even when she was at her baddest. And, she learned to be loving and gentle and to stick up for others, and never be cruel or nasty. She learned to be kind to others, just as Taffy had been, loving no matter what. Taffy continued the motherly bond throughout her life, but once Angelica got to be nine or ten, focused mostly on music, as her mother had finally started to be more important in Angelica's life, though Taffy would always play a vital part; Charlotte didn't have to spend as much time as she would have when Angelica was younger, but also, Taffy had taught her slowly, too, about how to be more considerate andnot let her attitude at work spill over into things that would influce Angelica.

Years later, Angelica was receiving a scholarship award her senior year in high school. Though Taffy was a star now, and had been for a few years, she still loved to come back and see Angelica get awards.

"…And most of all…" Angelica feigned tearfulness, then chuckled mischievously at the podium. "Made you think I was gonna cry, huh?" she teased.

In fact, she usually avoided it, even in speeches like this. But, she couldn't help but think that – were it not for Taffy and the loving bond they'd had – she could never be on pace to become the success she was going to be. Nor would she have such a warm relationship with Chuckie, playful as it was at times. Truthfully, there was a bit of her that wanted to show emotion here, but she wouldn't let anyone know that. So, she pretended like she'd just tricked the audience.

"Anyway, I want my nanny to come up here. Come on, Taffy." Taffy jogged up to the podium. "I know it's been on Paul harvey's 'Rest of the Story' and all over about how this young rock star was once a nanny for a wild kid like me. But, I just wanted her to get some recognition on stage for more than just her music." Angelica looked fondly at her. "This is the most gentle, kind, and compassion person I can imagine. And, I don't care if she is shedding a tear right now, I'm not going to," she teased. "Thanks, Taffy." They embraced at the podium.

"Congratulations, Angelica. Thank you."

"When I think of what a warm, tender, and affectionate caregiver should be, one who knows just how to soothe any hurt, I think of her. One who knows how to be in control, and teach others the same." She talked on for a moment about Taffy's qualities. "Yes, when I think of a successful businesswoman, I think of my mother. But, when I think of the tender, caring side of a woman who is always giving of herself, I think of her. A caregiver should be docile, tenderhearted, and be willing to stand firm while having no aggression in them whatsoever. Which is why I want Chuckie to raise our children someday when we marry."

Chuckie thought about that in the audience – she'd just said some nice things – but she also implied Chuckie wasn't assertive in anything. "What that a compliment?" He whispered to Tommy, who shrugged.

Once she was done with her speech, Angelica stood at the podium for a moment with Taffy. "Thanks, Taffy, for all you've done."

Taffy thought about the sacrifice of her teenage years, and how she spent her high school years as a nanny instead of doing what she'd wanted to do. Even her college years were spent, at times, caring for Angelica, though as they grew up she didn't have quite the need to spend every day with them. She didn't see as much of Angelica in her preteen or teenage years, but they'd kept in touch, and she was a good, "safe" person for Angelica to go to when she and her mom disagreed over something – even though Taffy usually took Charlotte's side.

No, it hadn't been the carefree time that Taffy had wanted. But, she'd gotten more than she wanted, too – a great reward. She remembered Stephanie telling her that God did that sometimes – like with their Uncle Jesse. He'd had the chance to have his own life, but instead chose to raise Stephanie and her sisters after their mom died, and found far more blessings than he could have ever dreamed. God's grace wasn't just about His son dying for one's sins on the cross, and making Him one's personal Savior. That was the biggest part. But, it was also about giving blessings and rewards right here when one gave of oneself.

"Thank you, Dear," Taffy, said as they hugged. "I wouldn't trade all that time for anything.


End file.
